Hi all,
In response to those of you that have asked for help in learning to play Napoleon's Campaigns, let me say that AGEOD is working to address the issues you've raised as we speak.
As a teaser, I've put together a "walk-through" tutorial (with the help of a very knowledgeable player--Henry D.) that deals with reorganising your Forces and using Leaders to their best potential.
This is just a tutorial to get you thinking about the leadership issues that affect game-play. My example is definitely not the ONLY way to reorganise Forces.. it might not even be the best... but for new players it is an introduction to the topic.
Please feel free to comment.
Laurence (and Henry D.)
Reducing Command Penalties through Re-Structuring
One of the more challenging (and downright fun) aspects of the game is the ability to enhance the efficiency of your forces by making leadership changes. Since leadership and leader abilities play such an important role in determining the strength of your forces it is only right that you be allowed to make decisions regarding your commanders.
If you played Napoleon’s Campaigns for any length of time, you’re more than likely aware of those flashing red percentages that that appear on the Unit Panel. These red percentage numbers indicate the command penalty being assessed to a particular force for having too many units in comparison to the leader-generated command points that are available. The penalties can be quite severe—they affect both movement and combat of the entire force. In many cases, these penalties can be reduced or even done away with simply by making some adjustments to the command structure of the force. For example, let’s look at the Italienische Armee under Archduke Karl at the beginning of the Austerlitz scenario.
It’s October 1st 1805. The decision has been made in Wien (Vienna) to go to war with France over Napoleon’s insatiable ambitions. As part of the overall strategy of advancing into France on several fronts, Archduke Karl has assembled an army of nearly 100,000 men near the town of Treviso. When the war begins, Karl is tasked with the re-capture of northern Italy—specifically the major cities in Piedmonte and Lombardy.
The problem is that the organization of Karl’s Italienische Armee is so cumbersome—consisting of many independent divisions—that most of its combat effectiveness is being lost. Karl will need every bit of strength his army can muster to overcome Massena’s Frenchmen that threaten the advance to Milano.
Knowing that a dispatch will arrive any day directing him to begin operations, Karl has called a council of war in Treviso. All of his Division commanders are in attendance. He starts the meeting with the words, “Gentlemen, I have decided to make some last minute changes in command. Some of you will not like these changes but I assure you they must be made if we are to prevail over the French.”
Archduke Karl is a 3-star Leader with a Strategic Rating of 4, an Offensive rating of 3, and a Defensive Rating of 5. Compared to most Coalition Leaders in this scenario, these ratings make him very good. So let’s start by placing all of the Austrian Divisions in the Trevisa region under his direct control. Once this is accomplished, Karl is in command of a Force (i.e., the Italienische Armee) consisting of Frimont’s Avantgarde Division, Bellegarde’s Mitte Division, Orsini’s Rechtsseitig Division, Davidovitch’s 1st Linksseitig Division, Reuss’ 2nd Linksseitig Division, Lindenau’s 1st Reserve Division, Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division, and the Reiterei Reserve Division under Prince von Lothringen. Karl also has a battery of artillery and supply wagons with the Army HQ. Notice that Karl has not included the Trevisa Stadtgarrison in his Force. The Stadtgarrison (the 44th Infantry regiment Bellegarde) is locked in place in this scenario and for this reason it will be left behind.
Step 1: Place all of the separate units in Trevisa, with the exception of the locked Stadtgarrison, into the Italienische Armee Force.
Now that all the Divisions are consolidated under Karl’s personal control, we immediately notice that Karl has a small problem. The Command Points cost to command this Force is 25 and yet, the Archduke and his generals only have a combined CP allowance of 18. The difference between having 25 CPs worth of units and only 18 CPs worth of leadership results in a 28% command penalty. This command penalty is significant. It reduces the combat effectiveness of the Force to 900 (i.e. the PWR value) and slows the army’s movement. If the army advances on Mantua under this arrangement, even following the major road, it will take at least 12 days to reach the city depending on the weather.
At the meeting with his Generals, Archduke Karl gives out his new command assignments. Brigadier Gen. Rosenburg-Orsini (3-0-0) is not a particularly good commander but he is a Cavalryman and Brave. Under the new command structure, Orsini will be placed in charge of a newly re-structured Division of cavalry elements. In the meantime, Orsini’s Rechtsseitig Division must be broken up to remove the infantry elements.
Step 2: Left-click on the Rechtsseitig Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Orsini) in the Unit Panel.
Bellegarde’s Mitte Division contains two cavalry elements (O’Reilly’s Brigade) that we want to put in the new cavalry Division we are creating for Orsini. To remove these elements, we must break down the Mitte Division in the same manner as we did with the Rechtsseitig Division.
Step 3: Left-click on the Mitte Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Bellegarde) in the Unit Panel.
Notice that the Italienische Armee has gone from having a PWR rating of 900 to only 813. This is because the command penalty has been increased to 35% (the maximum penalty). Don’t worry about these numbers right now—they will soon improve as we get further along in our restructuring. Now we can start building Orsini’s cavalry Division.
Step 4: Select General Orsini by left-clicking on the Orsini leader ‘counter’ on the Unit Panel. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the Knesvich, Radetsky, and O’Reilly cavalry units. (By holding down the CTRL key you may keep multiple units selected.) Now that these four (4) units are selected, the Combine button is highlighted. Left-click on the Combine button to re-create the Rechtsseitig Division with the three (3) selected cavalry units.
Brigadier General Bellegarde (3-2-2) is one of our better Division commanders. Therefore, we want to make sure we give him a strong Division to command. We will give Bellegarde all of the loose infantry and artillery units we have showing on the Unit Panel.
Step 5: Select General Bellegarde by left-clicking on the Bellegarde leader ‘counter’ on the Unit Panel. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on all of the infantry Brigades and the artillery battery—a total of eight (8) units plus Bellegarde. Now that these nine (9) units are selected, the Combine button is highlighted. Left-click on the Combine button to re-create the Mitte Division.
The Mitte Division is now an extremely powerful unit under the command of one of our best Division commanders. Not only does Bellegarde possess a Brave trait, he also has a Good Commander trait. In fact, if you remove this division from the Italienische Armee just for a moment, you discover that the Mitte Division has a PWR rating of 464—a rating that is more than half of the whole Italienische Armee’s initial rating of 900. Restructuring is starting to pay off—but we’re not done yet.
Next we’re going to give Orsini’s Rechtsseitig Division some additional cavalry and artillery units. Where are we going to get them? Looking over our command, we see that the other cavalry Division is commanded by Prince von Lothringen. Like Orsini, Lothringen (3-0-0) is a cavalry leader and possesses ratings equal to Orsini. However, Orsini is Brave whereas Lothringen is not. After begging the Prince’s pardon, we break up his Division and give his men to Orsini.
Step 6: Left-click on the Reiterei Reserve Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Lothringen) in the Unit Panel.
Step 7: Left-click on Orsini’s Rechtsseitig Division. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the two cavalry units and artillery battery formerly belonging to Lothringen. Left-click on the Combine button to combine these four (4) units.
By this time our restructuring is really starting to increase the Italienische Armee’s combat efficiency. Notice that the PWR rating for the army is 1075 and that the command penalty is down to 14%.
Next we are going to look at strengthening our infantry Divisions. All of our remaining Division leaders have equal ratings (3-0-0) with the exception of Frimont (3-1-1). Poor Brigadier General Johann de Frimont is not a bad commander but he lacks certain personal traits that we want from our leaders. Frimont has to go. On the other hand; Brigadier General Vogelsang, commander of the 2nd Reserve Division is a man of exceptional ability—he’s Brave, a Defensive Fire specialist and greatly emphasizes Fire Discipline to increase the effectiveness of the men under his command. He’s just the man we want to lead our next big Division. Therefore, we next remove the component units from Frimont’s Division and hand them over to Vogelsang.
Step 6: Left-click on the Frimont’s Avantgarde Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Frimont) in the Unit Panel.
Step 7: Left-click on Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the infantry units and artillery battery formerly belonging to Frimont. Left-click on the Combine button to combine these units.
At this point in the restructuring, the Italienische Armee has a PWR rating of 1250 with no command penalty. We’ve increased its combat efficiency by more than 30% just by reassigning a few Generals and units. Note that we achieved this command efficiency and actually reduced the number of leaders. Both Frimont and Lothringen are still with the army but currently command no actual units. Now that there is no longer a command penalty we could stop our restructuring at this point and be satisfied with the results. But there is still some additional restructuring we can do to further improve the effectiveness of our individual Divisions and since Archduke Karl has a challenging task ahead—let’s do a little more shuffling.
Brigadier General Reuss-Plauen (3-0-0) is a tough old Infantryman but his men can be put to better use under Brigadier General von Lindenau (3-0-0) who specializes in Fire Discipline. Since we need more fire discipline among the men, we’re going to disband Reuss’ 2nd Linksseitig Division and assign the Wetzel Brigade to von Lindenau’s 1st Reserve Division.
Step 8: Left-click on the Reuss’ 2nd Linksseitig Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Reuss) in the Unit Panel.
Step 9: Left-click on Lindenau’s 1st Reserve Division. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the infantry unit (Wetzel’s Brigade) formerly belonging to Reuss. Left-click on the Combine button to combine these units.
We have one Division remaining that is as yet untouched—Davidovitch’s 1st Linksseitig Division. Davidovitch (3-0-0) is a fine albeit unremarkable leader. He has to go. We break up his Division and put the smaller of the two Brigades (Nordmann’s Brigade) into von Lindenau’s Division. Lindenau’s Division now has a full complement of 17 elements. Davidovitch’s cavalry unit is placed in our friend Orisini’s cavalry Division. This leaves only one (1) lone Brigade—Kalnassy’s Brigade.
Step 10: Left-click on the Davidovitch’s 1st Linksseitig Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Davidovitch) in the Unit Panel.
Step 11: Left-click on Lindenau’s 1st Reserve Division. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on Nordmann’s infantry Brigade, formerly belonging to Davidovitch. Left-click on the Combine button to combine these units.
Step 12: Left-click on Orsini’s Rechtsseitig Division. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the cavalry unit formerly belonging to Davidovitch. Left-click on the Combine button to combine these units.
We still need to find a home for Kalnassy’s Brigade so let’s disband Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division temporarily and reconstitute it to include Kalnassy’s Brigade but leave out the Sommariva Brigade of light infantry. Since Frimont has Skirmisher as a leadership trait, we’ll place the Sommariva Brigade with its three (3) elements of light infantry in his care.
Step 13: Left-click on Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division on the Unit Panel. Once the division is selected, left-click on the Division Break Down button (left column, Tent filter). The Division is removed and replaced by its component elements (including Vogelsang) in the Unit Panel.
Step 14: Left-click on Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division on the Unit Panel once again. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on all of the infantry units except for the Sommariva Brigade. Left-click on the Combine button to reconstitute Vogelsang’s 2nd Reserve Division.
Step 15: Left-click on Frimont’s leader counter. Use the scroll arrows to scroll the Unit Panel and CTRL-left-click on the Sommariva Brigade. Left-click on the Combine button to reconstitute Frimont’s Avantgarde Division.
At this point we have finished our restructuring of Archduke Karl’s Italienische Armee. It has a more streamlined and elegant organization, giving it increased combat effectiveness. We have done this taking into account the personal traits of our existing Leaders and used fewer Leaders in the process. Reuss, Lothringen, and Davidovitch are now free to be used elsewhere.
In addition to the increased combat effectiveness, because of the restructuring, the army is able to move much faster as well. Remember when we originally estimated it would take a minimum of 12 days to reach Mantua from Trevisa? Try moving the army now. You discover than instead of 12 days, it now only takes four (4) days to reach the city. The significance of this is not hard to establish. The army can reach Mantua on the first turn of the game instead of taking nearly two full weeks. Having the army reach Mantua during the first turn as opposed to the second turn means the difference between holding the city and seeing Massena capture it before your men can arrive.
Restructuring your forces in this way is considered a ‘gamey’ exploit by a minority of players because it discounts the realties of command and control. If you happen to share this opinion, you are; of course, free to refrain from trying to get the best out of the men under your command. This is war, however, and as the saying goes; All is fair in love and war.
Good article (and first post!)
Thanks for the tutorial... it will come very handy!
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